What's that big bird in the meadow?

Had a nice hike yesterday with some campers and saw some things that werre too fast to photograph. Will try again today. We hiked up the watershed of Tollgate Creek on what some call the Ridge Trail. Saw an amazing-looking moth, shiny black wings and body with a bright red head. It wouldn't sit still long enough for a photo, but it's easy to remember and I'll try to find it in a field guide today. Also saw a striped racer, too fast to photograph. One lady with me saw things I missed - like the cicada (above) on a manzanita trunk. I saw the Scarlet Gilia on the road into camp. They're mostly wilted at this elevation, but still look fresh at around 5,000'. The butterfly (above) was resting on the mud near the Tollgate Dam. When I got back to camp, a lady who had been out bike riding asked me "What's that big bird in the meadow on the way into Quincy?" As if there were a bird statue there, and I would know what it was from that description :) Well, she then said it looked sort of like a Great Blue Heron, but it wasn't. That's all I needed to know. It was a Sandhill Crane, and I got lucky and photographed two of them on my way home.
The forest is drying out pretty fast in this heat, so there are fewer blooming wildflowers every day. Leading young people on a hike today and will have to be inventive to show them exciting stuff. We'll tip over some logs and rocks to see what is hiding out - being mindful that rattlesnakes could be among the discoveries. Also, large flower heads like Yarrow and Angelica, whose tops are visited in the cool mornings, are great hiding places for lots of different bugs; beetles, spiders, flies, etc. The key on hot days is to look underneath the flowers and almost everytime we find a cool bug hiding in the shade.